The Tragedy Of The Commons

There was a time when the internet felt like a wild, sprawling library—chaotic, sure, but open to all.

Now it feels more like a gated suburb. If you’ve got the money, you can enter. If not, good luck finding something that hasn’t been locked behind a paywall, subscription, or members-only Discord.

This shift didn’t happen overnight.

It crept in slowly, like a thief in the night.

First, premium content on blogs. Then Patreon exclusives. Now entire communities, courses, and even conversations are sealed off. Everything from thought leadership to entertainment has become transactional.

And yes, creators deserve to be paid.

Writers, artists, and thinkers should be compensated for their work. That’s not the issue.

The issue is what we lose when the default model becomes “pay first, think later.”

Knowledge Becomes a Luxury

Information that could educate or empower is now a product. Niche insights, specialized breakdowns, nuanced takes—all locked away.

If you can't afford it, you’re out of the loop.

This stratification creates a two-tier internet:

• The haves, who consume well-researched, balanced, thoughtful content.
• The have-nots, stuck with clickbait, outrage, and SEO sludge.

We’ve turned the internet into an exclusive school where tuition is required just to hear the lecture.

Echo Chambers Thrive

When people only engage in gated communities of like-minded subscribers, they rarely encounter dissenting views. Everyone nods in agreement. Debate becomes rare. Curiosity withers. Algorithms already feed us what we want to hear.

Now, paywalls reinforce it.

It’s not just intellectual—it’s emotional. When you’ve invested financially in a creator or group, you’re more likely to defend them, even when they’re wrong.

Tribalism sets in.

Division Gets Worse

This fragmentation isn’t harmless. It feeds cultural and political divides.

Each group has its own media bubble, its own monetized messiah. No shared facts, no common ground. Just isolated pockets convinced they’re the only ones who “get it.”

When truth is behind a paywall and propaganda is free, what wins?

We Need A Public Square Again

The dream of the open web wasn’t just about access. It was about connection.

It was about stumbling into a random blog post at 2AM that changed how you think.

It was about discovering others—not because you paid—but because they shared.

We need a movement back to that. Not the old, ad-driven chaos—but something more intentional, more human.

We need creators who will publish openly again—not as martyrs, but as neighbors.

We need to build gardens, not gated mansions.

And we need to remember: the best parts of the internet were never transactional. They were relational.

Let’s stop locking the door on each other.

Let’s bring the commons back.